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Partner Kevin Johnson is quoted in an article published Sept. 11, 2017, by Bloomberg BNA. The article, “USVI Time-Share Tax Unconstitutional, Ill-Advised, Plaintiffs Say,” discusses a lawsuit filed by the American Resort Development Association-Resort Owners’ Coalition (ARDA) against the Virgin Islands, opposing a $25 per day environmental and infrastructure impact fee on owners and renters of time shares. ARDA, represented by Johnson, is arguing that the tax intentionally discriminates against time-share owners, who are almost exclusively non-residents.

Johnson told Bloomberg that the Virgin Islands government could be attempting to piggyback off earlier rulings related to hotel taxes that upheld their validity. “But this an entirely different situation,” he explained. “Time shares are well over 99 percent owned by non-residents. And the governor and legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands were well-aware of this and explicitly identified this as a benefit of the bill — that it was being imposed on non-residents.”